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(No Model.)

B T STARR ELEGTRIOAL GAUTERIZING APPARATUS. No. 300,155. Patented June 10, 1884.

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E TOR UNITED STATES ATENT FFICE- ELI T. STARR, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE S. S. XVHITE DENTAL MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRICAL CAUTERIZING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 300,155, dated June 10, 1884-. Application filed February ll, 1884. 7 (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELI T. STARR, of the city and county of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oauterizing and Similar Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates more particularly to apparatus for cauterizing or burning, the heating of the apparatus to perform the canterizing operations which may be effected thereby being produced by electricity. My invention therefore relates to what is known as electro-cautery.

The object of my invention more especially is to provide an improved electrocauterizing apparatus.

The nature of my improvementsand the subj cot-matter claimed by me herein will first be set forth in detail as organized in the best ways now known by me and will then be distinetly recited at the close of the specification.

I wish it to be distinctly understood that some of my improvements claimed herein may be used without the others, and withapparatus organized in other ways than that particularly shown in the accompanying drawings and set forth herein.

In said drawings, which show various applications of my improvements, Figure l is a view in elevation of my improved apparatus, organized more especially for destroying the nerves of the human teeth. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the appa ratus. Fig. 3 is a similar section through a portion of the apparatus, showing the cauterizing nerve-destroying needle as in position to be heated to incandescence; and Fig. 4 is a view showing the end of the needle exposed and projecting forward, as when it enters the nerve or pulp canal of a tooth. Fig. 5 is aview of a cauterizing-loop, instead of a needle, for the performance of minor surgical operations. Fig. 6 shows a cauterizing-knife,to be used in surgical operations. Fig. 7 isaseetion through the apparatus shown in Fig. 6 on the line 7 7 of said figure. Fig. Sis a view of the front end of the main or handle portion of the apparatus. Fig. 9 is a view of an incandescent electric lamp inclosed in a fiat guard or casing for use in exploring and examining the mouth which is to take the place of the cauterizing implements. Fig. 10 is an edge view of the lamp shown in Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is a view of the flat lamp detached fromits guard or casing, and Fig. 12 is a view of said lamp with one side of the casing or guard thereof removed. Fig. 13 is an enlarged view of the front end of the handle portion of the instrument, (shown in Figs. 1 and 2,) in order to illustrate clearly the manner of constructing a portion of the circuit-connections by which the resistance of the device or the flow of current to the cauterizing tool or lamp may be regulated. Fig. 1a is a section through the front end of the handle portion of the apparatus for asimilar purpose; and Fig. 15 is a modified form of cauterizing-needle to be carried by the handle of the instrument and substituted, for instance, in place of the single needle shown in some of the other figures ofthe drawings.

The handle portion A of my improved instrument is preferably made of ,a non-conducting material-such, for instance, as wood, ivory, or hard rubber-and is provided at opposite tending from end to end of said handle portion A, for the reception of the circuit-wires a (B, so that said circuitrwires a a lie in said longitudinal grooves below the surface or periphery of the handle portion A, which is preferably cylindrical. The butt-end of said handle portion A is provided with a cap or ferrule, B, carrying connecting-posts G O, to which the respective wires a a are firmly united. The outer or free ends of said connecting-posts are socketed, for instance, so as to receive the projecting pins of a spring-connection or yoke, D, the members (I d of which are united to an insulatingebloek, and are connected to the respective wires leading to a battery or other electric source. Said circuitwires are preferably bound together by a suitable woven fabric, so as to be insulated, while at the same time flexible, whereby the instrument is capable of being freely moved'about within certain limits, in order to enable the free operation, control, and direction thereof. The freedom of movement of the instrument is further aided by the pivotal connection be- D. The inner ends of the circuit-wires a a sides with two longitudinal grooves, a a, ex-- tween the connecting-posts O G and the yoke are connected, respectively, with terminal posts E E, the circuit-wire a? being directly and firmly united to the post E, while the circuit-wire a is united to the post E, preferably by means of a set-screw, c, passing into an insulated ferrule, F, at the front end of the handle portion A of the instrument, from which ferrule said posts E E project, the front end of the wire a being soldered or otherwise united to a metal ring, f, surrounding the insulated cap or ferrule F, and the set-screw e passing through said metal ring f and making contact with the post E. By this means it will be understood the circuit may be readily made and broken. This is a simple form of makeandbreak device for the instrument; but it will of course be understood that any other suitable make-and-break device may be employed, instead of that particularly shown, and that it may be located at the-butt-end of the handle, fol-instance, instead of at the front end. In the organization I have shown, one of the wires-for instance, the wire (U -passes directly through the handle to the post E, while the other wire, a, passes ashort distance into its groove a, is then looped, and the end of the wire then passed through said groove to, so as to be connected with the post E. The loop formed in the wire a is of considerable extent, and is utilized by me as a resistance medium, by which the resistance to the passage of the 1 electric current may be regulated. To this end I form a double spiral or screw groove in the periphery of the handle portion A, and wind the loop in said groove spirally from end to end of the handle, the members of the loop being insulated by the ribs or projections between the grooves or threads in the handle from each other. The loop is of such length that it may be wound spirally around the handle from end to end and terminate under the cap or ferrule F at the front end of the handle' of the instrument. This loop-wire is preferably a higlrresistance wire-such as German silver-and the grooves in the handle are only of such depth as to receive and hold the wire, leaving the surface thereof proj ccting above the insulated surface of the handle. The current therefore, in passing through the instrument, passes, for instance, through the wire a at the butt -end of the instrument, then spirally through one member of the wire loop spirally wound upon the handle, then back again through the other member of the loop to the point a", and then through the straight portion of said wire a, which lies in the groove a between the loop in said wire and the connecting-post E. Thus it will be seen the current has to travel a considerable extent of resistance-wire, and in order to vary the resistance,

and to throw in more or less of this resistancewire, I mount upon the handle a conducting ring or ferrule, G, which makes contact with several of the coils of the wire loop wound about the handle, and thereby, it will be obvious, electrically connects both the leading and return members of the wire loop 5 and if said ring or ferrule be at or near the butt of the instrument will obviously cutout virtually all'of the wire in the resistai'ice-loop, because the current, instead of having to travel one member of the loop and return by the other, is shortcircuited from one member to the other at or near the butt of the instrument. By adjusting the short-circuitin g ferrule G, therefore, endwise upon the handle portion A of the instrument, more or less of the resistancewire is put into the circuit may be desired, in order to regulate the effect of the current upon the apparatus carried by the handle and which is to be operated or affected by said current. If, for instance, instead of the ring or ferrule G being at the butt of the instrument, it is moved up to the front end, substantially all the resistance-wire will be put into the circuit. I therefore have a handle with a spirally-wound resistance-wire and an endwise movable contact ring or ferrule by which the resistance to the passage of the cur rent may be varied; but this, broadly, is not claimed by me herein.

In Figs. 1, 2, 3, andl the conducting-post E is connected with a metal tube, H, contain ing a plunger, H, with a bent end, '1), said plunger being of metal or conducting mate rial, and being acted upon by a spring, h, in said tube H. 'so as to thrust the plunger nor mally outward, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The opposite post, E, is connected to an arm, I, carrying at its front end a fine needle, I'- for instance, of platina-the front end of said needle resting in a recess orsocket in the bent i end h of the plunger H, and making contact- 3 therewith, so as to complete an electrical con nection. This needle I constitutes in the iigures mentioned the cauterizing-tool, and when sufficient current is flowing over the circuit, determined by adjusting the ring or ferrule G, said needle is intensely heated or brought to incandescence by the passage of the current through it, due to the electrical resistance of said needle. When, therefore, the cauterizingneedle is to be employed to destroy, for instance, a diseased nerve in a human teeth, the circuit is completed through the instrument and the needle brought to incandescence. The bent end h of the plunger H is then placed against the tooth with the end of the cauterizing-needle over the cavity therein. Pressure applied upon the handle to force it forward causes the tube H to ride over or upon the plunger H and thrust the needle I through the bent end of said plunger into the nerve or pulp canal, the needle projecting beyond the end of the plunger, as shown in Fig. 4-. This instantly destroys the vitality of the nerve or pulp and the operation is painless, which is a great desideratum, as it is frequently necessary in dentistry to destroy the nerve or pulp of a tooth, and heretofore this could only be successively accomplished by very skillful con tinuous treatment.

I have neglected to mention that the eonductingposts E E or the parts connected there with are preferably suitably braced or stren gthened by an insulating connecting-block, i.

In place of the cauterizing-needle, the conducting-posts or terminals at the front end of the handle may be connected by a cauterizingloop, which on the passage of the current through it will be heated to incandescence, and be useful in performing many surgical opera: tions where either aseparation or cauterizing of parts is necessary. This loop is shown in Fig. 5.

In place of the needle and of the loop above mentioned, it will also be desirable, in many cases, to have a cauterizing-knife, and this I have provided, as shown in Fig. 6, the blade 4." being of high resistance, and being heated to incandescence by the passage of the electric current through it.

I have also shown in Fig. 15 a cauterizingneedle, which is a double needle-that is to say, it has areduced member, i,which is heated to incandescence by the passage of a current through it, the other member, i of the needle being a strengthening-support to the incandescent portion, and enabling the needle to be maintained at incandescence as long as the passage of the current continues,which is not the case with the needle first described, because when projected into the tooth the current is short circuited from a greater portion of the needle, and from its front end, as clearly shown in Fig. 4,wl1ich causes the needle to be reduced in temperature at that end to a very large degree, as will be obvious to any skillful electrician.

In place of the canterizing tools above described, my improved handle may have applied to it an incandescent electric lamp, which is preferably a flat and small lamp incased in a non-conducting guard or cover having an opening at one side to permit the passage of the light rays, such a lamp being highly useful in dentistry, and facilitating the examination of teeth to which natural light-rays have difficult access, the lamp being placed in the mouth without danger of heating or burning the patient.

This invention of a mouth-lamp for use in dentistry, which can be placed in a patients mouth to facilitate its examination, forms the subject-matter of other applications of mine already filed, and is therefore not claimed herein, although it serves to show that various devices other than cauterizing-tools, may

be used with my improved resistance-handle and organization of parts herein shown and described.

I claim as my invention- 1. A non-conducting handle provided with insulating-ferrules at its ends and with opposite longitudinal grooves, in combination with circuit-wires fitted in said grooves, and one of said wires being formed into a loop and wound spirally around. the handle to constitute a resistance device, substantially as described.

2. A non-conducting handle provided with insulating-ferrules at its ends, and with opposite longitudinal grooves, in combination with circuit-wires fitted in said grooves, and one of said wires being formed into a loop and wound spirally around the handle to constitute a resistance device, and with a tool or device carried by the front end of the handle to be affected by the current flowing over said circuit-wires, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a handle carrying conducting-connections, with a single incandescing cauterizing-needle connected with said conducting-connections and rendered in candescent by the current passing therethrough,substantially as described.

4. The combination of a handle carrying conducting-connections, with a cauterizingneedle in circuit with said connections, and aplunger making contact therewith and movable endwise, so as to allow said needle to be protruded in front of said plunger, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a handle carrying conducting-connections, with a cauterizingneedle in circuit with said connections, and

'a spring-plunger making contact therewith,

and movable endwise relatively to said needle, substantially as described.

6. A cauterizing-needle consisting of two members, one only of which is brought to incandescence in operation, and is of materially higher resistance than the non-incandescent member thereof, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 8th day of February, A.

ELI '1. STARR.

Witnesses:

WM. J. PEYTON, E. EUGENE STARR. 

